Wearing Fans Around Our Necks Has Been More Pleasant Than You'd Expect

Published August 10, 2023

Thom Dunn

Share this post

2023 is the hottest summer of your life (so far), and we’re seeing a new crop of wearable gear meant to climate-control your personal bubble, to quote an ad, “Cooler than an air conditioner!” We were skeptical—of the cooling claims for these so-called neck fans and of how we’d look walking around with plastic rings around our collars.

But we were intrigued enough to spend several hours sorting through dozens of promising neck fans. We sought reliable manufacturers (um), good warranties (ha), and some plausible evidence they were working for customers in the wild. We found two main types: basic wearable, battery-operated fans for around $30, and others with a little tech, like a thermal cooling chip, which pushed the price up around $50. We zeroed in on a couple of potential standouts in each class, bought them, and wore them to barbecues, beaches, and bike rides throughout July.

This fan’s battery lasts all day, several accidental drops haven’t killed it, and it fits comfortably around your neck without being heavy, loud, or excessively gusty.

The Penkou Portable Neck Fan is a simple but effective cooling device that sits comfortably around your neck, directing gentle wafts of wind up towards your head.

With three speed settings and a ring of 72 air slots for the fan to exhaust through, it’s enough to cover everything above your neck without blowing directly into your face (which would be annoying anyway). Its plastic construction is durable enough and able to withstand falls from a moving bicycle onto the pavement below (oops), and its discreet design shouldn’t attract much more attention than if you were wearing a pair of over-the-ear headphones around your neck. In fact, several people mistook the Penkou fan for a pair of Beats headphones when they saw it.

It weighs only about half a pound, and the smooth plastic design means you’ll barely notice it sitting on your neck and shoulder (unless you’re already sweaty enough that it’s sticking to you). It’s easy to control, too, with one large button on the front right side that cycles through the fan speeds. The button is recessed just enough that most people should be able to find it by feel without having to remove the neck fan and look for the right spot to press. Depending on the fan speed, the rechargeable battery can last for up to 16 hours, which makes it a good companion for a full workday (especially if you work outdoors).

The noise from the Penkou fan wasn’t particularly bothersome either, even though it’s essentially blowing straight at your ears. If you wear headphones with it on, like I did while walking or working, it’s basically unnoticeable. That being said, the volume of the fan at higher speeds can interfere with conversations a bit. I already have some auditory processing problems to begin with, so sometimes it would take me a moment to realize that the problem was the fan and not just me. Keep it running on low, however, and you should be fine.

The Penkou fan costs about $30. Plenty of other brands sell nearly identical (or maybe even entirely identical) devices for around the same price. It doesn’t have much of a warranty, but our test model held up well over two weeks of nearly nonstop use, including several accidental drops.

Among several thousand mostly positive user reviews, the topic of battery life is mixed but leaning favorable, suggesting some general satisfaction among longer-term customer experiences. The phrase “stopped working,” a red flag we watch for when considering any lower cost electronics items, appears a handful of times, but not often enough to cause major concerns about making this recommendation.

Thermal chips effectively improve this fan’s cooling performance, but its battery lasts a fraction of the time of its more basic competitor.

If the Penkou Portable Hands Neck Fan looks like imitation Beats headphones with a three-speed fan, the Egopp 1S Instant Cool Down Neck Fan is more like Geordi La Forge’s visor from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Egopp model has a similar bladeless fan setup to the Penkou fan, but with only about half as many air vents. What it lacks in exhaust ports, it makes up for with a pair of thermoelectric semiconductor cooling chips, which the product literature claims are capable of dropping their temperature by 30 degrees in just one second. The idea is that, when placed against your neck like a wet compress or an ice pack, these thermal chips will help lower your core body temperature while the fan cools the rest of your head. Neck fans with this technology tend to be more expensive; the Egopp fan typically costs around $50.

For some people, however, that markup might be worth it. We found that the semiconductor thermal chip really came in handy during a 12-mile round-trip bike ride on a hot day. I kept the Egopp fan on my neck for the entire ride—and yes, it stayed on, even as I swerved to avoid city buses. I’m a sweaty enough guy to begin with, but I was surprised to notice how much less sweaty I was when I arrived at my destination than I expected to be.

Unfortunately, that thermal chip also consumes a lot of energy. So even though I’d fully charged the fan before I left, it still ended up dying about halfway through my return trip—leaving me much, much sweatier when I got home. It ultimately lasted about three hours with the thermal chip running on full, compared with the 8 or so hours it can run with just the fan on. In other words: It’s great for a quick cool down, but it’s not something you can rely on for an entire day.

Like the Penkou fan, the Egopp fan isn’t particularly loud, and neither is the low electrical thrum from the thermal chip (although it’s certainly there, like a mini-refrigerator wrapped around your neck). That being said, I have some auditory processing issues, and the whirring tone from the Egopp sent me into a stupor. It’s not necessarily loud, and it didn’t seem to bother any of the half-dozen other people who I let try the fan, but that specific frequency triggered something weird in my brain, leaving me feeling unbalanced and unfocused. It didn’t bother me as much on the low setting or while wearing headphones. Your mileage may vary.

As much as we loved the experience of the Egopp’s thermal chip, the user interface on this neck fan is absolutely terrible. The small buttons are awkwardly placed all the way on the back and are nearly impossible to find by feel alone. You also have to hold them down to activate them rather than just tap them once to cycle through the settings. Also, the longer it runs, the warmer the battery gets, which is not a problem we noticed on fan-only mode. This makes a certain amount of sense, given the higher energy consumption, but it still leads to a strange mixed hot-and-cold sensation on the back of your neck.

All that considered, with both the Egopp and Penkou fans, I was consistently, pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the gentle gusts around my nape. They are still pieces of plastic rubbing against your skin, so even with the relief from the fan, you get that sticky, sweaty tingle when your neck touches the plastic. As strange as that sensation is, it still beats being hot and sweaty.

This article was edited by Harry Sawyers.

by Wirecutter Staff

Here are 25(ish) useful things for a summer beach vacation.

by Jackie Reeve

These bedding items will help keep you cool on summer nights, but they’ll also liven up your bed with color and prints.

by Raphael Brion

From Bluetooth speakers to patio furniture to gas and charcoal grills, here’s what we think you need for backyard entertaining and cooking.

by Kalee Thompson

Summer-camp packing lists can be long—and sometimes intimidating. Here’s how to choose fun but practical gear that’ll last for many seasons to come.